Chinese exports grew year-on-year by 3.8% in the first half of 2024, as concerns mount in other countries about widening trade imbalances with China and its potential to displace domestic industries and jobs, by Alex Irwin-Hunt, FDI Intelligence
In the first half of (H1) 2024, Chinese companies sold goods and services worth $1.71tn abroad — up from $1.64tn in the same period a year earlier and 46% higher than the $1.17tn recorded in H1 2019, according to fDi calculations of figures from Trade Data Monitor (TDM). In June 2024, China’s trade surplus with the world also hit a monthly record of $99bn, as exports surged and weaker domestic demand in China led to a fall in imports.
A remarkable 202 out of 233 countries and areas with available data via TDM recorded an increase in Chinese exports between H1 2019 and H1 2024.
This reflects a longer-term trend of expanding Chinese trade with the world since the country joined the World Trade Organization in December 2001.
China’s widening trade surplus has caused concern among many foreign politicians, who worry that competition from Chinese exports could displace domestic industrial production, forcing factory closures and job losses. Governments in some of China’s largest export markets, including the US, EU, India, Brazil and Turkey, have raised existing tariffs and imposed new trade restrictions on manufactured goods from China. Many tariffs are focused in sectors such as electric vehicles (EVs) and other clean tech, in which countries are trying to develop domestic industries.
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